Pedal assemblies are used in vehicles to control the movement of the vehicle. For example, a vehicle driver applies a force to a brake pedal to actuate a vehicle braking system for slowing or stopping the vehicle. Vehicles also include an accelerator pedal which is actuated by the driver for controlling engine throttle position, and which ultimately controls how fast or slow the vehicle moves. Also, vehicles having a manual transmission will include a clutch pedal which is actuated by the driver when a gear change is desired.
Installation of these pedal assemblies into a vehicle is often complicated and time consuming. An example of such an assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,741. The pedal assemblies are typically installed into a base component that is attached to a vehicle structure such as the firewall or vehicle frame. The base component is usually a bracket member or a casting. The pedal assemblies usually includes at least two pedal arms which are supported on a pivot shaft or rod which is installed into the casting. It is difficult to provide a good bearing surface between a surface on the casting and a surface on the pivot shaft.
Often the casting or bracket requires complex machining for these pivot areas. The pivot bearing surface areas in the casting or bracket must therefore be machined to tight tolerances for engagement with a mating bearing surface on the pedal shaft. Machining a casting or a bracket in such a manner is very complicated and expensive. Also, installing the pivot shaft into the casting so that the bearing surface on the shaft is properly aligned with the machined bearing surface in the casting is difficult. pedal assemblies can also be separately installed into the vehicle's base component which is time consuming and requires a significant amount of valuable packaging space. Each of the pedals in this type of configuration often have to be installed into the casting by sliding the pivot that supports the pedal through holes in the casting or bracket. The pivot shaft must then be properly positioned in the bracket so that a good bearing surface is provided between the bracket and the pivot shaft. Alternatively, the pivot shaft may be slid through a tube that has been attached to the bracket. Either method makes installation of the pedal assemblies difficult due to the location of the bracket or casting attachment to the vehicle and the limited packaging space available.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a modular pedal assembly so that pedal arms could be pre-assembled before installation into a base component. This would improved packaging and eliminate expensive machining of various pedal assembly components, and would significantly reduce assembly time for installing the pedals in the vehicle.